The Test
by ALMH
Summary: Set after the end of series 8, AU. Next in Spooks for a year, sorry it's late! Anyone who thinks they've missed out an entry, it's in the crossover area
1. Chapter 1

This is my revenge on all the teachers who have set me tests recently. Listen, I understand the use, I really do, but I haven't got time at the moment to revise quarter of an AS syllabus! (1/2 for Chemistry :( ) Ok, so it's not really revenge, more like me expressing my annoyance at tests. But still. Sorry it's late, there will be another chapter soon, apologies for the short length but I've had no time.

* * *

The team patiently assembled in the meeting room, waiting for Harry to arrive. He had spent the last five minutes in his office, the door firmly shut, talking to another man. "Upright walk, self-confidence, impeccable suit. Obviously from HR," Ros concluded. She had spent much of the time before the meeting was scheduled to start sitting at her desk, stealing the occasional looks to Harry's office. From the way Harry was now pacing, and his furious facial expression, she guessed it wasn't good. Harry had only briefly left his office to tell them to enter the meeting room in five minutes, and had quickly returned.

The door opened and Harry walked in, wearily sitting down. "I've got an announcement to make. Tomorrow, instead of working, we will be sitting a test."

"Test?" Tariq asked nervously. "What do you mean a test?"

"Apparently," Harry said tiredly, "We all need to know information about all aspects of the job, not just our specialist areas." The team all stared at him, desperately hoping that he was joking. He wasn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Quite short, but I have a mock tomorrow so I'm meant to be revising. Thank you for all your reviews, I'm glad you're interesting and I'm so sorry that the last chapter was so short - I didn't have a lot of time yesterday but I wanted to get something posted. I was a bit worried after I'd posted it that it looked like it would be similar to "The Quiz" (go read it, it's good :D) but I know where it's going now, and it's definitely going to be different :)

* * *

"What do you mean, exam time table?" Tariq asked nervously as the man from HR handed out sheets of paper to them all.

"We have a list of exams that you will have on each day. Some will be straight-forward written examinations whilst others will be practical."

"Languages paper?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "In what languages?"

The HR man laughed. "I think you mean which." Lucas's face fell. "It will encompass a variety of languages and language related skills, from recognised the languages being written or spoken, to guessing at a rough translation."

"Surely that puts some of us at a disadvantage?" Ros asked, barely glancing at the timetable.

"Yes, it does mean that the field officers are at a slight disadvantage in some sections of the test, but the desk officers will be disadvantaged in others," the HR man smirked. "And just to impress on you the seriousness of these tests, MI5 are looking for employees that are versatile and able to work in as many areas as possible, even areas that are not their specialist areas. Any questions? No?" He quickly left the room, giving them no opportunity to complain or argue back.

All stared at the papers they had been given in disbelief.

"We've apparently got a test in the Echo Bravo safe house in three hours time on the general history and aims of MI5," Tariq said numbly.

"I thought I'd never have an exam week after the A-Level exams," Lucas said miserably. "They can't really be serious about throwing us out of MI5 if we don't do well."

"Maybe," Ros mused. "Ruth, can you do some digging, see what the situation is with these. They've been trying to cut staff recently, maybe they've been rolling this out through out the service, to see who they can drop and then they'll bring in replacements from other sections. That way they reduce staffing without dramatically impacting on the intelligence gained. And for the mean time, I'd recommend reading up on MI5 history." Everyone agreed reluctantly to Ros's plan, all choosing to go their separate ways to swot up.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's so late!!! I've had too many mocks, and too much work to do :(

* * *

Ruth sat at her desk, miserably staring at her screen. Everyone else had left, following an explosive argument between Ros and Tariq about something trivial, probably Tariq's habit of rocking backwards on his chair, she hadn't really been paying attention. All she knew was that Ros had suddenly started yelling at Tariq, and Harry sent them both off the Grid. Lucas had disappeared before then, to where she didn't know.

"Any news?" Harry asked, walking towards her desk.

"Well, it seems like the situation is genuine," she answered. "I've spoken to my contacts in other sections, they seem to be having the same tests as us, same time, same excuse."

"So we've got a serious problem on our hands," he answered gravely. She nodded. Sighing, he went back into his office, and came back with two books and some dvds.

She stared at the books. "What are they?"

"Well, we can either do this in one of three ways."

"Three ways?" she questioned, curious.

"Three ways. One - the boring route." He put the two largest books on her desk. Curiously she picked one up and frowned.

"A condensed history of MI5," she murmured, pulling a face.

"I know, hardly the most fun activity. Another alternative, cheating."

"Cheating?"

"A last resort. However, my personal favourite..." he handed her the DVDs. She looked at the titles and smiled.

"James Bond?" she snorted.

"The way I see it, we may as well pick the fun way to revise, because otherwise we may end up insane." She looked at the DVDs, then back at Harry. "This way we'll be revising -"

"And having fun," she finished, smiling. "Alright. James Bond it is."


End file.
